Jagger Eaton's “lowest point in my life” paved way for street skateboard silver medal at Paris 2024 Olympics
The grin on Jagger Eaton’s face was infectious the moment it stretched out from one ear to the other.
The 23-year-old from Mesa, Arizona, had just taken the silver medal in the men’s street skateboarding event at Paris 2024, behind Japan’s Yuto Horigome.
It was, in every sense, a frenetic final. Eaton’s USA teammate, the famed Nyjah Huston, had led the way for the bulk of the event before Eaton leapt ahead at the close of the fourth round of tricks with a nollie 270 switch backside noseblunt.
A gold medal looked to be all but his until Japan’s Horigome, known for his clutch skating, responded with a nollie 270 bluntslide to earn a 97.08 score and vault him to the top of the leaderboard.
Try though they did, neither Eaton nor Huston had a counteroffer as they bailed on their final attempts, ultimately handing Horigome the win.
Despite coming up short of his golden goal, Eaton expressed no signs of regret afterwards.
“That was arguably the greatest final in skateboarding history, I think,” he said to Olympics.com. “Just to live in that moment and be there with my friends. And, man, they’re just all so good.
“To be there fighting to be on the podium, to be hitting my tricks under pressure like that, that’s what every athlete dreams of. And I’m just so grateful. I’m so grateful. There’s no other words.”
Gold medallist Yuto Horigome of Japan, flanked by American silver medallist Jagger Eaton on the left and bronze medallist Nyjah Huston on the right at the men's street finals in Paris, France.
Jagger Eaton: "Missing that team tore me apart"
At the start of qualification two years ago, Eaton’s ambitions for Paris had included a tilt in the Olympic park event.
Accordingly, he competed in the park and street qualifiers dotted around the world, pushing his body to its limits as he exposed it to double the amount of training.
For most of the qualification period, Eaton looked in good shape to pull off the double until last month in Budapest, the final qualifier before the Games.
After dropping out of the contest in the semi-finals, fellow U.S. skater Tom Schaar took full advantage of Eaton’s absence and came up clutch to claim the third and final quota spot for men’s park ahead of his compatriot. It left Eaton heartbroken.
Jagger Eaton of the United States casts a long shadow at the Place de la Concorde, site of the men's street skateboard competition at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 29 July 2024 in Paris, France.
“Budapest was one of the lowest points in my life,” the skater said candidly.
“Missing that team tore me apart, like tore me apart to the point where It still keeps me up. And after that, I don’t really think I did heal. That night I went out and skated and concussed myself, went to the hospital, cut my head open like all sorts happened.
“I just tried to figure out what was the meaning. Why?”
With less than 36 days between Budapest and the men’s street event in Paris, Eaton had to bury his feelings and focus his energy solely on street. Though it wasn’t what he had chosen, with hindsight the now two-time Olympic medalist is seeing the shortcoming in a new light.
“I realized the meaning right now is that I don’t really think I would have been able to podium if it wasn’t for me taking time off park to focus for this event. That’s really what I think it was. And to clutch that trick (nollie 270 switch backside noseblunt) and to make it, just means the world.”
With a silver medal now around his neck, Eaton becomes the first US skater, and third only, to hold two Olympic skateboarding medals after Brazil's Rayssa Leal and Horigome.